BBC News with Nick Kelly
The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has intensified pressure on Russia and China to drop their support for the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. At the end of the conference on Syrian in Paris, bringing together more than 100 countries, Mrs Cliton said the entire world is now watching the few nations that still have influence to Mr Assad to step upon showing in the right of the war. The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recommended that the number of the UN military observers in Syria be reduced. In a report of the Security Council Mr Ban suggests the observers should be base primarily in the capital Damascus and uses contacts with both government and the opposition groups to foster a dialogue. With more here is our UN correspondent Barbara Plett.
The mandate of the UN mission in Syria expired in two weeks’ time. So the Security Council has to decide what it to extend even though the violence has made impossible for the unarmed observers to monitor the ceasefire and they were mandated to do. Now the Secretary General has recommended that the council shift the focus of the mission form monitoring to political mediation trying to foster a dialogue in promote ceasefire, the number of military of observers would be reduced, but not completely withdrawn,sending the message that the international community is not abandoning Syria.
On the eve of Libya's first parliamentary election since the fall of Colonel Gaddafi, gunmen had fired on a helicopter carrying voting materials nearly eastern city of Benghazi. Local officials said one personal on board was killed. From Tripoli here's Rana Jawad.